Process of making rail-joint bars.



B. WOLHAUPTBR.

PROCESS OF MAKING RAIL JOINT BARS.

APPLIGA'I'ION FILED JULY 16,1912.

I Patented J an. 6, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wi bweoggo AAAAAAAAA ONIILED JULY 16,1912. 1,083,578. v Patented Jan. 6, 1914. 4 ssssssssssss 2.

- B. WOLHAUPTER.

PROOESS'OF MAKING RAIL JOINT BARS.

B. WOLHAUPTER.

PROCESS 0P MAKING RAIL JOINT BARS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16,1912.

Patented Jan.6,1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

L M 5m B. WOLHAUPTBR. PROCESS OF MAKING RAIL JOINT, BARS.

Y APPLICATION FILED JULY 16,1912.

1 ,083,578. Patented Jan. 6, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Ema/whom UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. BENJAMIN WGLIELA O'PTER, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAIL JOINT COIVIPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF MAKING BAIL-JOINT BARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 6, 1914.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN WoL- HA PTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Rochelle, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, ave invented certain new and useful Improvemerits in Processes of Making Rail-Joint Bars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved process of manufacturing rail joint bars of the continuous type, that is of the type hav- "ing a main splice member fitting the fishing spaces of the rails, and an integral base section which constitutes a rail seat and support.

The main object of the invention is to provide a simple and practical method of manufacturing these joint bars, whereby they can be produced rapidly, accurately, and economically without complication, and by the use of any suitable mechanical appliances or instrumentalities that may be available for, or adapted to the purpose.

A special object of the invention, is to provide a process which possesses certain practical advantages over processes that are now in use for making rail joint bars of the continuous type. By. continuous type is meant that type of joint bar which consists of a bar generally of the common angle bar type but with its lower foot extended beneath the rail base, said extension with the lower portion of the angle wrapping around the base flange of the rail. In explanation of these advantages a comparison of the present invention with the known processes referred to will be made. In this connection it may be explained that one process heretofore employed, in making continuous joint.

bars involves the development of bar blank in a series of roll passes which secure the gradual shaping of the bar until it comes from the rolls in the section exactly as it fits the rail and as it is used in track. This operation necessarily leaves a very deep narrow recess for receiving the rail flange and such deep,narrow recess makes it impractical to cut this rolled bar into rail joint lengths by means of a shear for the reason that the long tongue of the shear knife which enters said recess, is too thin and fragile to withstand theoperation of shearing. Accordingly, in this process it is necessary that this rolled bar be cut into railfjoint lengths witha saw and the process of sawing produces fins and rough ends to the joint bars which fins project into the recess for receiving the rail flange and until removed, prevent the application of the joint. The removal of these fins requires two operations; first, the ends of the joint are passed through a series of punches which clear out the fins from the rail flange recess or space, and second, the fins and burs on the outer edges of the bar are eliminated by grinding on emery wheels.

Then the bar is punched and slotted for the bolts and spikes.

It is to be observed that the rolling of'the joint bar,-'under the known method just described involves the use of a long thin tongue on the rolls to form the rail flange recess or space in the bar, and since the outer portion of this tongue forms a larger circumferenceon the roll than the inner portion, it necessarily travels farther in each revolution of the roll thus dragging or slipping in the rail flange groove of the joint and thus is subject to rapid wear, with the consequence of producing a joint bar which will vary in its contour from the original section, thus presenting difficulties to effect the necessary fit on the rails.

A second known process heretofore employed in making continuous joint bars involves the development of the bar blank in the passes of a rolling millto produce a bar which comes from the mill with its base section open, that is to say disposed at an angle to its normal operative plane with respect to its main splice member. In this open base section, shear blades can readily be madeand maintained therefor, thus permitting the bar as it comes from the roll to be sheared to rail joint lengths, leaving no burs or fins. After shearing, the bar is punched and slotted for the bolts and spikes, is next reheated, and finally, while hot, is placed in a press or equivalent appliance and the rail-supporting base section or flange bent up to its normal operative plane with re spect to the main splice member. According to this second known process, just described, the contour of the rolls is such that their life is much greater than under the first described process from the fact that there is no long thintongue andlittle or no dragging in any part of the rolls, but on the other hand, the stepsof reheating and folding must be resorted to in order to bring the rail-supporting base section to its operative plane and in this folding step any inequalities in the foot, portion of the bar from rolling are taken care of.

As compared with these two known processes, the present invention distinguishes therefrom quite radically in the feature of first rolling the bar with the railsupporting base section at right angles to the perpendicular plane of the splice memher or substantially parallel to the bottom of the rail base when applied, and with a large and spacious rail flange receiving recess that is of greater depth vertically than the thickness of the rail flange, thus permittinga heavy and substantial tongue to be used in the rolls and also permitting shear knives to be employed for shearing the bar clean at the end. Thereafter, while cold, the rail-supporting seat or seats is pressed to place. This cold pressing of the rail-sup porting seats takes care of any inequalities in the foot portion of the bar from rolling. It will thus be noted that the new process, according to the present invention, does not require sawing and the special punches and grinding apparatus as above referred to in connection with said first mentioned process, nor does it require the reheating step and other differences involvedin the carrying out of said second mentioned process. It supplies a method which shears the ends of the bar in a very clean and economical manner and at the same time provides in the first pressing for the taking care of any inequalities produced by roll wear.

While various instrumentalities may be utilized in carrying out this invention and various alterations made in the precise man- 'ner of handling the bar during the course of its development without departing from the invention, one of the ways in which the process may be carried out in a practical manner is suggested in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a sectional elevation of a pair of rolls of a rolling mill, illustrating the roll pass for giving to the bar its final reduction and shape. of a rail joint bar having the design and cross section as it leaves the pass of the finishing rolls of the rolling mill. Fig. 3 is a perspective view. illustrating the step of cutting the rolled bar into rail joint lengths by means of shears. 'Fig. 4 is aperspective viewillustratingthe step of pressing or up setting the rail supporting seat or seats from the rolled base section. Fig. 5 is an end view of a rail joint eml'iodying joint bars of the continuous type wherein the rail supporting seat or seats are pressed from the rolled base section according to the step shown in Fig. 1-. Fig; (i is a side elevation of the rail joint shown in Fig. 5 with one Fig. 2 is an end View of the joint bars removed to expose the pressed or upset portions of the rolled base section. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating a modified form of the joint bar wherein the rolled base section is disposed in a plane below and parallel to the horizontal plane of the spiking foot. Fig. 8 is a- View of the modified joint bars of Fig. 7 illus trating such bars after the step of pressing up the rolled base section to form a rail seat and support. Fig. 9 is an elevation of the joint shown in Fig. 8 with one of the bars removed, and illustrating by dotted and full lines respectively the positions of the base or series of roll passes secures the progressive distribution and reduction of the metal and the gradual shaping of the bar, until it reaches a form substantially that of its final shape, but possessing in this form no seat or support for the rail. The rolled form of the bar referred to is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. At this stage of the process the bar includes the main splice section or member a, the toe member or spiking foot I), a base member or section 0, rolled at substantially right angles to the perpendicular plane of the splice member a, and a rail flange receiving-recess 6, between said base section and the inclined foot flange f of the bar, which recess is of considerably greater depth vertically than the thickness of the rail flange. It will thus be seen that the bar section as thus rolled includes a toe member 6 occupying its final required position, and a base member 0 disposed parallel to, but spaced a distance from the final required rail-seating position. In explanation of the rolling step that produces the design and cross section of bar shown in Fig. 2, reference is made to Fig. 1 of the drawings showing portions of a pair of finishing rolls A andB. These rolls are designed and construeted to provide between them a pass P corresponding in its design to the general cross sectional appearance of a rail joint bar of the continuous type. The portions of the pass P which conform respectively to the design of the splice member and the base section of the bar are designated by the reference numerals 1 and 2, but it will be ob'- lengths. This is accomplished by a shearing operation which leaves the ends of the bar free from fins and burs, so that no further finishing operation thereon is required or necessary. Any suitable shearing means may be employed for carrying out the shearing step. of the process, as for instance by suitably operated shearing knife members 4 and 5 having cutting edges conforming to the cross sectional contour of the rolled bar. As shown in Fig. 3 the knife member 5 may constitute the ledger blade, and the knife member 4 the movable blade. Therail flange recess 6 being large, a large and strong tongue e can be made in the shear blade 5 which will not be liable to break whenbeing operated. After the shearing of the bar into rail joint lengths, the joint bar is subjected to a final shaping pressure to produce a rail-supporting seat or seats on the base section. This may be accomplished in various ways, but for illustrative purposes one method is suggested in Fig. 4 of the drawings. In this figure of the drawings, the rolled bar is shown as being placed in a die press including in its organization a base or anvil 6 having a movable clamping member 7, and a vertically movable die head 8 operating above the base or anvil. This die head 8 is shown as provided with die projections 9 corresponding to complemental die seats 10 of the base or anvil, and combining therewith to press up or upset from the base section a, a rail-supporting seat or seats 11 leaving intervening unpressed por tions 12 which form hearings to rest upon the tie. As suggested in Fig. 6 of the drawings the central one of the rail seats and supports 11 may be made slightly higher than the other raised portions 11 nearer the ends of the bar, whereby the said central one of said raised portions of'the base section will give a central support at the base of the joint for the ends of the rails,making a theoretically crowned center joint.

A modification in the process that may be resorted to is suggested by Figs. 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings, wherein the joint bar that comes from the rolling mill pass P has the base section 0 thereof disposed in a plane below, but parallel to, the horizontal lane of the spiking foot I), the bottom 0 the spiking foot 6 being disposed below the level of the bottom of the rail flange by an amount equal to the thickness of the base section a. In the pressing operation the whole of this base section 0 will be pressed into a rail base engaging position throughout the full length of the joint as plainly indicated by Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings bringingthe bottom of the base section 0 up to the level of the bottom of the spiking foot 6, thus giving a continuous rail seat of bearing for the bases .of the rails from end to end of the'joint.

Other. equivalent modifications may be resorted to without departing from the in= vention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The process of making rail joint bars which consists in subjecting a bar blank to a roll pass to produce an angle-bar splice section having a foot flange and a base member with the latter disposed in a position parallel to, but at a distance from, the plane of the rail seat, and subsequently subjecting the said base member only to a displacing operation to provide the rail seat.

2. The process of making rail joint bars which consists in subjecting a bar blank to a roll pass to produce an angle-bar splice section having a toe member disposed in its required final position, and a base member disposed in a position parallel to, but at a distance from, the plane of the rail seat, and subsequently subjecting the said base member only to a displacing operation to provide the rail seat.

3. The process of making rail joint bars which consists in subjecting a bar blank to a roll pass to produce an angle-bar splice section having a rail seating base member and a toe member with the base member disposed in a position parallel to, but at a distance from, the plane of the rail seat, and subse quently displacing a portion of the has member to form the rail seat.

4. The process of making rail joint bars which consists in subjecting a bar blank to a roll pass to produce an angle-bar splice section having a toe member disposed in its rewe quired final position, and a base member disposed'parallelto, but at a distance from, the plane of the rail seat, and subsequently displacing a portion of the base member to form the rail seat.

5. The process of making rail joint bars which consists in subjecting a bar blank to a roll pass to produce an angle-bar splice section having a toe member isposed in its re- 7 quired final posit-ion, and a base member dis- 11c posed parallel to but at a distance from the rail seating plane, and subsequently displacing a plurality of portions of said base member to provide the rail seat.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflixmy 115 signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN WOLHAUPTER.

Witnesses JAMES A. GRUE, Ka'rnnnmn MCNALLY. 

